THE NEWS ON ONE CLICK
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1. Sanofi-Aventis Multaq Heart Drug Causes Death, Disability & Specific Risk To Pregnant Women
And death is profitable too....
(Logo & Caption Courtesy Of One Click)
Since its approval last year, the Sanofi-Aventis Multaq heart drug has been controversial. For instance, a study published last spring found the pill is only modestly effective and has no clear safety benefits and more recently, questions were raised about the study that led to FDA approval. Now, a new analysis of FDA adverse event reports indicate Multaq may cause or worsen heart failure, trigger potentially lethal irregular heartbeats and impair kidney function. There is also a glaring discrepancy between the language in the Med Guide given docs and patients, and the warning label about pregnant patients. And the findings led The Institute for Safe Medicine Practices, which conducted the analysis, to conclude that “we have seldom seen a drug with so many issues in so many areas of its safety profile.” Why? The non-profit points out that development stopped several years ago after a study of patients with severe heart failure found th e drug doubled the risk of death; other data found signals of cancer and birth defects in animals; there are potentially serious interactions with other drugs used to treat atrial fibrillation, and Multaq causes new heart rhythm disturbances in some patients. In its analysis, ISMP found 387 domestic serious adverse events cited Multaq as the primary suspect in reports involving 24 deaths, two cases of disability, and 361 other serious reactions. Overall, 25.8 percent indicated new or worsened heart failure. Heart rhythm disturbances were also reported, including 18 potential cases of abnormally slow heartbeats, 47 cases of rapid heartbeats and 13 cases of ventricular tachycardia. There were also 15 cases of kidney failure or impairment, including four cases of acute kidney failure, but computer excerpts did not provide sufficient info to evaluate them, ISMP reports. The non-profit notes the FDA classified Multaq is teratogenic, or a risk for pregnant women.
Ed Silverman, Pharmalot
Related Sanofi-Aventis Drug Damage Links:
* ConDem Coalition Gov Arranges For Legal Aid To Be Withdrawn From Sanofi-Aventis Birth Defects Drug Class Action
BBC News
* Ulster Girl Awarded €500k Settlement Over Sanofi Aventis Birth Defects Drug
Claire McNeilly, Belfast Telegraph
2. Thousands Of Americans Register for NVIC's New Advocacy Portal During Vaccine Awareness Week
Thousands of Americans living in all 50 states took action and registered for the new NVIC Advocacy Portal at www.NVICadvocacy.org during Vaccine Awareness Week (Nov. 1-6, 2010) co-sponsored by the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) and Mercola.com. The NVIC Advocacy Portal, a free, online interactive database and communications network to help Americans protect and expand vaccine exemptions in state vaccine laws, was launched during the joint weeklong effort to raise public awareness about vaccine safety and informed consent issues. More than two million people were reached during Vaccine Awareness Week through a series of articles and videos about vaccination published on Mercola.com. In a joint press release issued Nov. 8, Dr. Joseph Mercola ur ged Americans to join with NVIC and Mercola.com and organize to protect vaccine choices. "Americans should be free to say 'yes' or 'no' to using vaccines without being harassed or punished for the informed decision they make," said Dr. Mercola. "Like any drug or medical procedure a doctor recommends, getting a vaccine is a personal health choice and the voluntary consent of the patient is absolutely necessary."
Barbara Loe Fisher, National Vaccine Information Center
Related Links:
* The Barbara Loe Fisher Interview - Style, Gonads & Brass Ovaries
Jane Bryant, The One Click Group
3. WikiLeaks Triumphs Thanks To Investigative Journalism Failure
At first glance, Julian Assange doesn't look like your average journalistic freedom fighter. Assange, through his watchdog organization known as WikiLeaks, is responsible for the release of the largest number of classified U.S. documents in history — 391,831 previously confidential reports of "significant action" that occurred during the Iraq War. As taxpayers and voters, we are the ones who supply the government the means to engage in these conflicts. We supply the appropriate money and support and in return they supply us with security and peace of mind — provided we don't ask a lot of questions. But at what cost does our peace of mind exist? Shamefully, it comes at the price of Iraqi lives. Through the veil of "national security," injustices reported in the Iraq War logs were allowed to continue because U.S. officials purposely turned a blind eye toward the suspected torture, which went unreported by American media . Investigative journalism has entered a sorry state in this country. Present news corporations work hand-in-hand with government officials. What used to be a powerful check to the mightiest government and military in the world has since transformed into an enfeebled industry bent on expanding the partisan gap. WikiLeaks may have created a new advent in investigative journalism, but it's up to the rest of the media to follow suit. Journalists must investigate instances of wrongdoing by this nation. Otherwise, our beacon of justice will remain nothing but a flickering lightbulb to other countries.
Chris Pocock, The Daily Aztec, San Diego State University Newspaper
Related Links:
* Disappointed Yale Student Castigates Obama & Thanks WikiLeaks
Rory Marsh, Yale News
* Massive Majority Vote For Ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair To Be Prosecuted For Iraq War Crimes
Information Release, David Lawley-Wakelin, The Frontline Club
4. WikiLeaks Embodies Freedom Of Information
Earlier this year, I watched actual classified footage of American helicopters shooting civilians from the air in Baghdad. We are all accustomed to seeing violence in movies, even perpetrating it in video games, but actually witnessing human beings killing reaches far deeper. I believe this is the sort of effect on people Wikileaks founder Julian Assange had in mind when he started the whistle-blowing site that publishes classified content from all over the world. In the landmark 1971 Supreme Court decision following the release of the Pentagon Papers, which constituted thousands of classified documents on the Vietnam War, the court stated that “only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.” Wikileaks is the embodiment of this principle and this has gained the site many enemies, including the U.S. government. The basic principle behind unveiling secret information is that if economic effort is put into keeping something hidden from the public eye, it is probably shady in the first place. When these efforts come from the most powerful governments and corporations in the world, we should be worried. Wikileaks provides transparency and gives well-intentioned people an outlet to publish controversial information while staying anonymous. The one person who has not been able to remain anonymous is Assange and for that, he is paying a high price. The man is considered a public enemy, has received thousands of death threats and recently applied for asylum in Switzerland after both Sweden and the U.K. denied his request due to political pressures, mainly from the U.S. Sometimes, shocking information is simply difficult to accept, especially when it clashes with a worldview many have spent years defending. In these cases it is easier to direct anger at the messenger; to say that it is all a political scheme perpetrated by extremist activists. After all, ignorance is bliss, right?
Phillip Reiser, The Collegian, University of Tulsa
Related Links:
* Should Obama Give His Nobel Peace Prize Back?
Mark LeVine, Al Jazeera
* Massive Majority Vote For Ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair To Be Prosecuted For Iraq War Crimes
Information Release, David Lawley-Wakelin, The Frontline Club
* Collateral Murder
Information Release, WikiLeaks
5. Stand With Whistleblower Bradley Manning!
The Bradley Manning Support Network is calling on supporters to sign a public declaration of support for alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning. Whistleblowers who speak out against injustice and tyranny make incredible personal sacrifices. Sign this petition and our partner, Courage to Resist, will mail your statement of support to Secretary of the Army John McHugh and Chief of Staff of the Army General George Casey. A 22-year-old Army intelligence analyst, Pfc. Bradley Manning, faces decades in prison for allegedly leaking a video of a US helicopter attack that killed at least eleven Iraqi civilians to the website Wikileaks. Two employees of the Reuters news agency were among the dead, and two children were also severely wounded in the attack. After nearly a decade of war and occupation waged in our name, it is odd that it apparently fell on a young Army private to answer the question, “What have we purchased with well over a tr illion tax dollars and the deaths of hundreds of thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan?” Tell the US Army that you stand with Bradley Manning!
Information Release, Bradley Manning Support Network
Related Links:
* Collateral Murder
Information Release, WikiLeaks
6. UK ConDem Coalition Government Wants All Of Your Personal Financial Information On Giant Database
It was reported today that the UK Coalition Government [ConDem - Conservative & Liberal Democrat] is planning on changing the law requiring all companies and banks to hand over details of the earnings of the out-of-work and tax credit beneficiaries. Essentially, if the Government does not have this information already, they will be allowed to legally seek and receive the information. The plan is that eventually all bank details and account information of all UK wage earners and benefit recipients will be obtained by the government. Under the current system, the Department for Work and Pensions holds tax benefit details separate from HMRC. The new system will require companies to submit payroll details every month and will also allow for HMRC and DWP to share bank details and other, personal financial information between both departments. Clearly, this new scheme raises all kinds of security and privacy questions. Can we trust the Government to central ly maintain a database of all of our financial information in a secure and appropriate manner? Won’t a central database be open to all kinds of cyber attacks? Will the Government be able to guarantee the privacy of each person’s financial account? And if the Coalition Government is really and truly committed to decentralising government why are they planning on centralising all UK wage earners and benefit recipients’ financial information into one database?
Dominique Lazanski, Big Brother Watch
Related Links:
* Papers Please! UK ConDem Coalition Government Wrecks Civil Liberties Again
Mark Ballard, Computer Weekly
* Outcry As ConDem Coalition Government Collides With Civil Liberties In Plan To Spy On Every British Citizen
James Slack, Daily Mail
* Disgusting ConDem Government U-Turn On Reversing The British Surveillance State
Alex Deane, New Statesman
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